Clay or clay type soils form the basic structural material of brick. Typically such soil is transferred to a brick producing facility where it is appropriately mixed to form a brick material which through an extraction process produces elongated brick slugs. These elongated brick slugs are then pushed through a wire bank cutter assembly where the brick slugs are cut into individual bricks after which the bricks are cured.
Roots, sprigs and other such debris which are found in the original soil are not always filtered out by the screening ordinarily used in the brick producing process. Such roots, sprigs, etc., find themselves in the brick slugs being pushed through the wire bank cutter assembly. As the brick slugs are pushed through, these roots, sprigs and other such debris are caught on the respective wires forming the wire bank cutter assembly. The presence of such roots and sprig material on the wires tends to gouge and scrape the flat large area side of the cut brick as they are pushed through the wire bank cutter assembly.
In addition, over a period of time there can be a substantial build-up of such root and sprig material that results in the brick producing process having to be halted in order to clean the roots and sprigs and other such types of material from the wire bank cutter assembly.
Therefore, there is a need to provide means within a brick cutting and handling apparatus for removing roots, sprigs, etc., from the wire bank cutter assembly without requiring the brick cutting operation to be entirely halted.